Herbert Maurice Douglas

[Coromandel]

Is there any Way to find out Where edward ronald Douglas Was born?

Yes.

Have a look here:

https://
indiafamily.bl.uk/ui/Advancediscovery.aspx

If you use this and FamilySearch you should be able to pencil in quite a few family members. Also see the FIBIS website.

Yesterday I found an intriguing little extract from a book on Scottish law cases:

From a volume of 'The Scottish jurist' on Google Books:

'...This was an action for exhibition ad deliberandum, raised by E. Ronald Douglas, head clerk in the Ganges Canal Works, East Indies, and mandatories, in his capacity as heir in general and of line to the deceased Edward Douglas, a slater in Glasgow. Edward Douglas died in October 1847, and the present action was brought against Robert Rankin Holmes, writer in Glasgow, the surviving partner of the firm of Douglas and Holmes, who were the law-agents of the late Edward Douglas....'

From Google Books but unfortunately 'snippet view' only. So far I haven't been able to persuade it to show me the publication date. It's interesting that Edward Ronald Douglas (who perhaps was known as Ronald?) was involved with the Ganges Canal, as his son was later.

[Timmonthamdoug]

So,we come from Glasgow. Does he appear in any census?
Can i find this census on the internet.
Thanks so much for this extraordinary information.

[geneius]

Hello Timmonthamdoug

I think you need to collate all the information on this thread and as Coromandel suggests peruse the sites we have given to slowly build your family tree up!

There is so much information covering several generations frorm Maurice to Edward Ronald.....

Suggest you start with www.familysearch.org,
select Asia & Middle East
you will then see the Indian records.....

Army Records maybe another source, these may give you dates of marriage births places etc.

A will in RSA suggests that there was property/ investments held there but you will need to access the UK will first!

We're all here to help you.......

Jx

[geneius]

So,we come from Glasgow. Does he appear in any census?

You will need to find his year of birth or baptism to successfully search the census....Scotland are seperate form the UK

Can i find this census on the internet.

yes at subscription sites Ancestry / Find My Past / Genes Reunited

The 1851 & 1881 UK census are free on familysearch and freecen & subsc sites

Birth marriage death can be found at freebmd.org.uk / freereg

Thanks so much for this extraordinary information.

Our pleasure, what we enjoy doing as you can see...............

[Coromandel]

At this stage we don't know what the relationship was between Edward Ronald Douglas (henceforth called E.R.D.) and the Edward Douglas of Glasgow who is supposed to have died in 1847, except that E.R.D. was claiming to be 'heir in general and of line'. So he was probably a close relative. They weren't father and son, for E.R.D.'s father was called John according to his baptism entry in the India Office database (post #21). They are unlikely to have been brothers (since it's rare to have two brothers of the same name) so perhaps were uncle/nephew or grandfather/grandson? If any archives have survived relating to the court case then they may shed more light on the matter: I have no idea where to look for Scottish legal records but will have a dig around and report back later.

The Edward Douglas who is supposed to have died in 1847 should be on the 1841 census, which is the earliest surviving one. He died too early to get a death certificate (civil registration did not begin until 1855 in Scotland) but you may find a burial (this may tell you his age at death which would be useful to know). The subscription site Scotlands People gives you access to Scottish census, church records, wills, and more. As mentioned by geneius you can see transcripts of Scottish censuses on Ancestry and Findmypast (again, you will need a subscription).

It's also worth trying FreeCEN, which has good coverage of the Scottish 1841 census. I had a quick look on there: there is no likely looking Edward Douglas but there is an Edward Douglass in Glasgow who could be a contender. His age is given as 60. Ages were supposed to be rounded down to the nearest 5 on this census so he could have been up to 64. His occupation is shown as 'Independent', probably meaning that he had sufficient income from property/investments to be able to retire. There's a Robert Douglass in the same household (aged 20, i.e. 20-24, occupation shown as 'Dur' in transcript)*. Unfortunately this census doesn't state relationships, so we don't know if he's Edward's son, or nephew, or whatever. If this Edward is still around on the 1851 census then that would, of course, eliminate him from our enquiry.

(Don't discount this Edward because of the spelling difference: as you go further back in time spelling gets more and more variable.)

Another avenue to explore is finding out more about E.R.D.'s father. His occupation and regiment are shown in the baptism entry for E.R.D. in the India Office database.

*I have now found a reference to a Robert Douglas (son of Edward), born about 1820, who was a surgeon in the Royal Navy. So perhaps 'Dur' is a misreading of 'Sur[geon]'? I see that there is a will for a Robert Douglas, assistant surgeon, Royal Navy, proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) in 1844. You could download this for a small fee from the National Archives' website. If he is the same Robert who appears on the 1841 census then he must have died very young.

[Coromandel]

I see that there is a will for a Robert Douglas, assistant surgeon, Royal Navy, proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) in 1844. You could download this for a small fee from the National Archives' website. If he is the same Robert who appears on the 1841 census then he must have died very young.

Trying to find out more about this Robert who was dead by 1844, I found this death announcement from the 'Glasgow Herald' of 22 Nov. 1844:

On the 13th instant, on board H.M.S. Alban, on the passage from Cork to Plymouth, Mr Robert Douglas, assistant surgeon, R.N.

'The Standard' of 30 Nov 1844 seems to have been rather behind with the news, for it announced only that 'Assistant Surgeon Robert Douglas R.M., has invalided to Plymouth Hospital from the marine battalion at Cork.'

Googling in the hope of more clues I discovered to my amazement that Robert Douglas, surgeon, Royal Navy (1820-1844) was, despite his youth, a prolific writer. Among his output was 'Adventures of a medical student' which was published posthumously with 'A memoir of the life of the author' in 1848. It is online here:

https://
babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044086822715;seq=7;view=1up

The 'Adventures' seems at a quick glance to be fictional, though still interesting. It is the introductory biographical bit that may be of more use genealogically. There are lots of snippets of family history, for example:

'Robert Douglas was born in the neighborhood of Glasgow, in 1820, and was the second son of Edward Douglas, Esq., portioner, who at one time carried on an extensive business in that city. When very young, his father removed to a large house situated in the neighborhood of Glasgow, which, from the vast extension of the city, is now reckoned within its boundaries. Here Robert, together with an elder brother, since dead, was put to a private school...'

'....On the death of his mother, a virtuous and talented woman . . . [his father] found it necessary to remove to the centre of the city. Robert, who was now reckoned a good English scholar, was therefore sent to the classical department of the High School...'

There's much in this acocunt about his writing, including a reference to 'early poetical effusions' being published in a Glasgow newspaper under the name 'Sholto'.

This account says he died aged 24 of typhus fever.

Now I am pretty sure this must be the Robert who is with Edward 'Douglass' on the 1841 census in Glasgow. What I do not know is whether this is the same Edward of whom E.R.D. claimed he was the heir.

[Coromandel]

From a volume of 'The Scottish Jurist' on Google Books . . . . So far I haven't been able to persuade it to show me the publication date.

I have beaten Google Books into submission and got it to show me another snippet giving the heading of the case, which is:

'19th July 1854.
Second Division.
Edward Ronald Douglas and mandatories, Pursuers, v. Robert Rankin Holmes, Defender.'

As yet I am none the wiser as to which court this was in. The records may be at the National Archives of Scotland but if they are they're not catalogued in enough detail for me to find them in the online catalogue. I have never looked at Scottish legal records, though, so have no idea what I'm doing!

There is some good news though: in the same snippet I can see a reference to 'Robert Douglas, surgeon to the navy' so I think that Robert of the 'poetical effusions' is a relative of yours.

[Coromandel]

Second Division. . . . As yet I am none the wiser as to which court this was in.

That title 'Second Division' may be a big clue. According to a glossary on the Judiciary of Scotland website, the Second Division is 'one of the Divisions of the Inner House of the Court of Session presided over by the Lord Justice Clerk' and the Court of Session is 'the supreme civil court'.

https://www.
scotland-judiciary.org.uk/29/0/Glossary

[grisel]

The National Library of Scotland has post office directories online. I can see an Edward Douglas (slater) from 1799 to 1825 at various addresses in Glasgow.

[grisel]

The National Library of Scotland has post office directories online. I can see an Edward Douglas (slater) from 1799 to 1825 at various addresses in Glasgow.

The earlier addresses are in the Trongate area in the city centre. The latest one is Clayslap near Kelvin Bank which is to the west (and may be the site of the large house mentioned?)

However the 1841 census mentioned is back in the Trongate area.

There is also a death of an Edward Douglass 1847 Gorbals.